City To Fight Brooklyn Unicyclist’s $3 Million Federal Lawsuit

Back in November 2010 Brooklyn-based circus performer and avid unicyclist Kyle Peterson got his second ticket for riding his one-wheeled vehicle on the sidewalk after filing a $3 million suit against the city when he received his first such summons in 2007; his clownishly oversized suit stemmed from the wording in the the city administrative code, which forbids riding “two-or-three-wheeled device” on city sidewalks. Now, the Daily News reports, the city is seeking to have the case dismissed.

Earlier this week the city’s lawyers filed a motion to have the case dismissed on the basis that ticketing NYPD officers acted correctly, and that Peterson was violating the intent of the law, which is to protect pedestrians from people operating pedal-operated vehicles. Vicki Zgodny, a lawyer for the city, wrote to the Daily News: “The difference between a bicycle and a unicycle is negligible.”

As a cyclist, I object to being lumped together with unicyclists, but that’s besides the point. What’s more to the point is that both the unicyclist’s lawsuit and the city’s motion against it are ridiculous. Peterson’s tickets should be pardoned, the law should be amended to include unicycles, Segways, and other dumb weirdo vehicles, and that’s it. Problem solved, $3 million taxpayer dollars saved!

A unicyclist is more akin to a pedestrian than a bicyclist, particularly with respect to the speeds available to them. A good unicyclist goes about as slow or fast as a fat pedestrian. Should we kick fat joggers off the sidewalk? What about fat people driving their Rascals around the sidewalks? That’s a dumb, weirdo vehicle, but the roadway is no place for them. Or unicyclists.